Category Archives: legalisation

The Problem(s) with British Medicinal Cannabis

4 December, 2023cannabis, cannabis evangelist, ceasefire4good, decriminalisation, Depression, drug use, epilepsy, legalisation, Politics, society, the hippycannabis, cannabis evangelist, ceasefire4good, decriminalisation, Depression, drug use, epilepsy, legalisation, politics, society, the hippythehippy

by Doug – the northlondonhippy

This hippy opinion piece takes a deep dive into the dismal state of British Medicinal Cannabis.

The subject is divisive, and there’s bound to be an opinion in here that pisses off nearly everyone.

Introduction

Cannabis was legalised for medicinal use in the United Kingdom in 2018, under a ridiculously rigid, and poorly implemented regime for a substance that is quantifiably considered extremely safe. And it is all the medicinal users of cannabis, whether legally sourced, or reliant upon the legacy market, who have continued to pay the price for the mess that is legal cannabis in Britain today.

The general standard of the products legally available isn’t great, nor is their continued availability. And the customer service side of this industry is even worse, from the initial tidal wave of bureaucracy, to chasing your regular, monthly prescription renewals. It’s been a disaster.

Improvements are constantly promised, yet rarely ever seen, but the issues are even deeper, and more systemic than that. The entire set up is not fit for purpose, and needs to be overhauled from the ground up, using other country’s superior implementations as a guide.

The First Elephant in the Room

It seems ridiculous that I even have to point this out, as I rarely see it mentioned, but to me it is the biggest, dumbest accommodation made, in the entire British legal cannabis system. And the way everyone just rolled over on it, continues to boggle my mind. That accommodation is this:

Medicinal herbal cannabis has to be vaporised. This is a mandatory restriction, because if you smoke it, somehow it magically invalidates your prescription, and makes your consumption illegal. WTF?

Smoking cannabis is one of the oldest, and certainly most common forms of consumption in history. It may not be the most ideal, but certainly shouldn’t that decision remain with the consumer?

It’s fine if doctors want to endorse and encourage vaporisation as their preferred method for patients medicating. I own several vaporisers myself, and I love them. But at the end of the day, when I need to finally get some sleep, nothing hits me the same way as a neat joint (no tobacco) of pure Indica flower.

I’m sure some of you naughty legal prescription holders out there still skin-up on the QT as well, but the fact is that you shouldn’t need to hide your preference for combustion.

By all means recommend vapes, endorse them, subsidise them even, but don’t force them on everyone with some bizarre, performative, restrictive law. It makes a mockery of the entire system that is meant to legitimise the use of cannabis as an actual medication. Questioning, and denying the medicinal value of a perfectly valid method of consuming it, diminishes much of what you’re trying to achieve.

When the guidance, and the laws were being drafted, did anyone even put up a fight? There are plenty of people who were involved in this process, who knew better, yet rolled over anyway.

Cali Legal Weed

The US State of California legalised cannabis in 1996 for medicinal use. The system was really simple, and far superior to ours.

After an inexpensive visit to specialist doctor, who reviewed your medical history to see if you suffered from one of the many qualifying conditions that might benefit from cannabis, you were issued with a medical cannabis ID card. With that card, you could then visit your local, legal dispensary, where you could safely purchase your cannabis flower, from a knowledgeable bud tender, who had personally sampled every strain available, and could offer useful advice on your choices. You could even smell the aroma of the bud, before you buy, which is more crucial than you might realise when selecting the right strain for you.

Dispensaries popped up all over the state, and the sky didn’t fall in. In fact, the system was so successful, that 20 years later, they extended legalisation to include all adult usage, medicinal or not.

It’s not just California; more than half of all US states have now legalised weed. Many countries have relaxed their approach to cannabis, and many more are expected to follow in the near future. Sadly, Britain is not one of them.

British Legal Weed

To secure a legal prescription here in the United Kingdom, your only option at this point is to go private. The NHS still refuses to accept the undeniable benefits of medicinal cannabis use, but that is an argument best left for another day. I want to concentrate the system we have now.

As with going private for anything medical, private cannabis is expensive. There are consultation costs, prescription renewal costs (with some clinics), admin fees, delivery fees, and the cost of the actual medication itself. Oh. and don’t forget you need a proper herbal vaporiser, which is not an insignificant cost.

You need deep pockets, and for many, those pockets need to be even deeper than what they might spend for the equivalent from the legacy market. Or if they previously grew their own, it would cost exponentially more. Going legal ain’t cheap!

I don’t currently have a prescription, but I do have more than one qualifying condition, so I am eligible. And I do have a Cancard, but more on this a little later.

I monitor the state of our legal cannabis market via the many subreddits, and forums online dedicated to the subject. While I will acknowledge that people tend to post complaints in general, more than praise, the scales of the posts I see on medicinal cannabis tip heavily towards the negative. I’m sure there are some patients happy with the system, and if it works for you, that’s great. But I am even more certain, anecdotally anyway, that the majority are not happy, and would welcome significant improvements.

I tried to get a prescription a couple of years ago, but I lacked proof of the years of therapy I had when I lived in the states, as well as the psychiatric drugs I was force fed. Since then, I’ve been diagnosed with a rare, hard to treat form of epilepsy. And I’ve had seizures while taking lots of different pharmaceutical drugs, so I definitely have proof now I qualify, should I wish to pursue the legal route again. But for me to consider it again, the system would need that overhaul I mentioned.

Even the initial process can seem daunting to some, and quite frankly, that is because it is a huge bureaucratic mountain for many to climb.

You need to get a summary of your care, from your GP surgery. Not all surgeries are helpful. And you need to be able to prove that you have at least one qualifying condition, and that you’ve tried two prescription medications that failed to help with it. Plus if it is a mental health issue, you also need proof you have tried therapy as well.

And that’s just to qualify for the initial consultation, though to be fair, if you make this far, it seems most people are prescribed.

After your initial consultation, the real fun begins… Trying to get a hold of your medication of choice. Some clinics limit, or push you to products produced by their parent companies, and they all seem to want to push people towards oils first.

The clinic that prescribes you, then has to send your prescription to a dispensing pharmacy. Until recently, that prescription had to be on paper, but now it can be sent electronically. Either way, there will still be a delay in dispatch, assuming they have what was prescribed available, and in stock. And how many times you have to contact them all to chase it, when something goes wrong.

Most people have to try many strains before finding one that helps, as the doctors are not that knowledgeable about the products.

There’s an open secret regarding doctors who prescribe medicinal cannabis; they’re really only in it for the money, and very few have any useful knowledge of cannabis, beyond the 2 hour online training course available to be able to prescribe it.

Yes, you read that right. For a doctor to be able to prescribe cannabis privately, for a fee, all they need to do is follow some simple guidelines, and maybe complete a short online training course.

Don’t get me wrong, my personal view is that any doctor should be able to recommend cannabis in the same way they recommend aspirin. And you should be able to self-refer for cannabis, the same way you can purchase aspirin over the counter. Technically, cannabis is safer than aspirin.

Who would you rather have helping you choose a strain for your condition? A fully trained doctor who spent 2 hours studying cannabis, and cannabis based products online, or a bud tender, that’s tried every product they’re selling? I know whose endorsement would matter more to me, and I bet I’m not the only one.

Legal vs Legacy

In all of my 40+ years of consuming cannabis, I have never bought mouldy weed. I’ve never found insects in a bag of weed either, and I have hardly even seen a seed since the mid 1980s. And I’ve never had to wait 2-4 weeks for my medication. None of that is true for British medicinal cannabis. Everything I’ve mentioned has been an issue for patients at some point, especially the delays.

The legacy market has been efficiently providing quality products for decades, and continues to do so, all around the country. How it does that is yet another discussion, for another day.

The legacy market is unregulated, so it is obviously less than ideal, but it’s still a business, reliant upon repeat custom. Selling quality products insures punters come back, again and again.

From my perspective, the legacy market still remains superior to our legal prescription market. The quality, and standard of products is consistent for me, the prices have remained steady for years, and the customer service has always been first rate.

The legal market is stressful. The medicinal cannabis subreddits are full of people going through all sorts of unnecessary drama to receive their medication, if they receive it at all.

Delays aren’t just common, they are expected, as is having your first (or second, or third) choice of medication unexpectedly unavailable for weeks, without explanation. And then when it does come back into stock, there’s a rush on it, and they quickly run out again.

And if the random availability wasn’t bad enough, the products themselves can vary. One batch of your favourite strain could hit just right, and then the next prescription for the same strain, does nothing for you. There is no consistency, and much of what is sold, is very dried out, lacking any aroma, or terpenes.

Whether you source it from the legacy, or legal markets, there is a superior third option for sourcing, but you’re not allowed to use it.

The Second Elephant in the Room

In many places, where cannabis is legal, growing your own at home is permitted. This is a no-brainer, as patients can produce their own high quality medication at home, much cheaper than they can buy it from either the legal, or the legacy market.

Growing quality bud is a skill, but it is one that most people can master given the time, especially if they’re motivated. And who would be more motivated than someone suffering medically, who wants to keep their costs down, during a global financial crisis!?

Growing your own should be at the very heart of our drug laws, especially medicinally. It should be a cornerstone of the policy, instead of leaving greedy corporations to produce substandard products. As far as elephants and rooms go, I’d say this is a massive one.

To sort of paraphrase Moses, “Let my people GROW!”

AI Generated, 6 fingered Moses knows where it’s at!

One Last Room, One Last Elephant

Medicinal cannabis is a divisive subject, but it is especially divisive within itself. The amount of bickering I see within the cannabis community is depressing.

Don’t we all want the same thing? We don’t want to see anyone arrested for possession, whether they have a prescription or not. We all want cannabis use to be seen as the positive, life enriching thing that it is, don’t we? We want it legal for all.

Having a prescription is meant to shield you from arrest, but it doesn’t, as there have been reports from all around the country of legal patients running into trouble with the law. That shouldn’t happen. Many people get prescriptions just to remain within the law, but what’s the point when the law doesn’t care?

Prescription or not, people should not be arrested for the possession of any drug. It’s not difficult. We’re all meant to be on the same side. Which is why I am even more confused by the hate for Cancard.

Cancard is a scheme set up by another medicinal cannabis user who avoided a conviction in court by using a medicinal cannabis defence. This victory means everyone who uses cannabis, can use the same defence. Joining the card scheme means you qualify for a prescription, whether you have one, or not.

The patient’s name is Carly Barton, and a few years ago, she decided to stop using the legal cannabis market, and to grow her own instead. Good luck to her, she’s a trailblazer!

I have a Cancard myself, and have been a member of the scheme for several years. They offer police training, and in some parts of the country, that training has helped people like me avoid legal hassles, and in some cases, even keep their medication.

Sadly, much like a legal prescription, there’s no guarantee a Cancard will prevent arrest, or prosecution. It will however, most certainly be a mitigating factor at some point. And that should result in an “NFA”, as in no further action will be taken, since a successful prosecution is unlikely, because of the medical defence.

I don’t understand all the hate. Carly, and Cancard just want to prevent arrests, and have done in many cases. A legal prescription is meant to prevent arrest, and confiscation as well, but that doesn’t always work either.

Can’t we all agree that NO ONE should be arrested, regardless of where they source their medication?

And that’s the final elephant, in the final room.

When the UK government legalised cannabis, even privately, that was a tacit admission that cannabis is medicinally beneficial. No ifs, ands, or buts, about it.

Cannabis is cannabis, whether you grow your own, source it legally, or from the legacy market. If it keeps you healthy, and alive, that is all that matters.

If these were your only two choices, which would you prefer? Would you rather be illegally alive, or legally dead? I’ve already made my choice. I’m still here.

I’m actively trying not to die from a potentially fatal form of epilepsy, among other long term physical, and mental health maladies. If you take away my special private medication, and I croak, that shit is 100% on you. I’m still here because of weed. Lots of us are.

Why can’t we be more like California, and have an actual grown-up, functional, beneficial medicinal cannabis system that’s affordable?

Why are our politicians from both main parties, so out of step with the electorate, the medical community, and the rest of the world on the simple subject of cannabis?

Why do we let our rabidly rightwing media dictate our health policy? That’s the real issue, but there isn’t a room big enough to contain that particular pachyderm.

It’s your body, it’s my body. We all have the innate right to make our own significant health choices that we know benefit us. I know you know this already, but how do we convince everyone else? It shouldn’t be as hard as it has been, and continues to be. But I’m not giving up the fight, I’m still preaching the good word, till my very last breath. And I’m still breathing.

***

After a 30 year career as a journalist, working for some of the largest news organisations in the world, including Associated Press and Reuters, and 15 years as a duty news editor for BBC News, Doug – the northlondonhippy is now a full time hippy, and writer. And for the last few years, he’s been #EpilepsyHippy. His life was a whole lot more fun before gaining that new title. For real.

Doug is also the author of “Personal Use by the northlondonhippy.”

“Personal Use” chronicles Doug’s years of experience with mind altering substances, while calling for urgent drug law reform. It’s a cracking read, you will laugh, you will cry, and you can bet your ass that you will wish you were a hippy too!

You can also find Doug – the northlondonhippy on Twitter: @nthlondonhippy but only if you look really hard.

And if you want even more, (and who wouldn’t?) you could always check out Hippy Highlights – which is the best of the best stuff on the site, and it’s all free to read. What are you waiting for?

Recreational Use is a Myth

4 December, 2023cannabis, ceasefire4good, decriminalisation, drug use, legalisation, Politics, society, the hippycannabis, ceasefire4good, decriminalisation, drug use, legalisation, politics, society, the hippythehippy

By Doug – the northlondonhippy

The hippy has been giving this a lot of thought, and recreational use of any drug is a myth. You’ll soon agree.

The first drug I ever properly used was alcohol. I started drinking at the age of 13, and I stopped at age 39. Drinking was a social experience, right from the start.

Most people have some level of social anxiety. We don’t like to admit it, but the popularity of alcohol at social events, gives the game away. Alcohol makes it possible for people to be around other people for extended periods of time. It makes us gregarious, maybe even a little giggly too.

Could you imagine a night down the pub, or in a club, or even a dinner party, without social lubrication of some sort?

If booze ain’t your bag, perhaps you like cannabis? Or cocaine? Maybe you’re one of those sober types, who’s just naturally friendly and happy. Lucky you!

For most people, drug use, alcohol, or otherwise, is a social experience. We do it in groups, we do it to be social.

Now, imagine someone who drinks alone. I don’t have to imagine, as after 26 years of regular, social drinking, I hit a rough patch in life, and for 6 months in 2002, I drank alone daily. Snorted coke too, and mixed in the odd MDMA tab as well. I was not having a good time, I was using it all to escape a bad one.

I was abusing booze, and drugs, and to me that makes my use medicinal. I was using it to lift my mood, and briefly escape my troubles. This use was negative; it wasn’t good for me in the long term. My use wasn’t social, and it certainly wasn’t recreational either. It may not have been the most healthy of self medication, but I was definitely self medicating.

I was lucky. I realised the hole I was in, and quickly, and quietly climbed my way out, all on my own. I realised what I was doing wasn’t in my best long term interests, so I gave up booze completely. Cocaine too. One day, I just stopped. I haven’t had either in over 20 years. It’s not some moral victory, it was a health choice for me, and one I was glad I made.

Recreational drug use is a myth, meant to make you feel shameful guilt about indulging.

After thinking about this for a very long time, I’ve reached the conclusion that all drug use (including alcohol) is either social, or medicinal, once you accept that all medicinal use isn’t always beneficial, or positive.

When I first started smoking weed, it was within a social group. We all got high together. And then I bought a bag of weed for myself. I sparked up a joint on my own for the first time, and realised it made me feel better, physically, and mentally. Without it being explained to me, I naturally worked out how to self-medicate with cannabis. I didn’t realise it at the time; it took many years to truly comprehend that I was self-medicating.

I’ve smoked cannabis for over 40 years, and I can’t recall the last time I had some recreationally. I use it to feel better, to reduce my anxiety, and my depression, and have done since I started. I take enough to take the edge off, to allow me to function like a normal person.

I couldn’t have lived my life the way I have, worked all the jobs I’ve done, or even traveled to war zones, without the medicinal benefits of regular, daily cannabis use.

I’m old now, and I take a load of prescribed pharmaceuticals every day. I don’t view cannabis any differently from the 10 prescription tablets I take daily. They all play their part in keeping me alive. Matter of fact, cannabis helps me with the side effects from the other medications I take, and I probably couldn’t tolerate them all without it.

The school of thought on psychedelics has evolved. People are understanding that their use is far more medicinal than it is recreational. You can do a lot of good for your mental health through the smart use of psychedelics.

When I went through my shroom phase, back in the early oughts, I think I had the best mental health of my life. There was a loophole in UK law for a few years, that saw actual fresh magic mushrooms legally available to purchase online, and in Camden Market. It was a sad day, when the government sealed that loophole, and the sales ceased.

Shrooms helped lift my chronic depression, and pulled me out of a different hole in 2003. I was able to get my life back on track, and I kept it there until epilepsy decided to take over 15 years later.

And even with the epilepsy, my cannabis use has helped mitigate it somewhat. I know cannabis could be even more beneficial, if I could get the right balance of cannabinoids into my system consistently. I wish the NHS prescribed it.

If someone goes home every night after work, and downs a bottle or two of wine on their own, or even with their partner, that use is not social, is it? It’s medicinal. Alcohol dependency is real. And it’s a medical issue, not a moral one.

Alcohol withdrawal is also real, and it is just as bad as coming off heroin. Alcohol can be lethal too, and has contributed to the deaths of more people that I’ve known over the years, than every other drug combined. It’s legal status obscures these facts.

Drop an E at a club? Medicinal. You’re doing it to expand your consciousness. Drop it with a group, it’s social too. Sometimes, it can be both. They’re not mutually exclusive.

Shooting smack in a back alley? Does that sound like fun? Does it sound recreational? Of course not! It’s definitely medicinal, and whatever you’re trying to escape from, I hope it helps you. Is it ideal? No, not even close. That’s why many good people want to open supervised injection facilities. Medicinal again. Open them everywhere!

Addiction and dependency are medical issues. Tobacco, heroin, cocaine, and alcohol are all physically addictive.

I’m dependent upon cannabis, the same way I’m dependent upon my epilepsy medication, or blood pressure medication to keep me alive. I couldn’t live without any of them. It’s all medicinal use.

Whatever your drug of choice, if you share the experience with a group, your use is social. If you use it on your own, or with a close partner, your use is medicinal, whether it is beneficial or not.

Recreational drug use is a myth, and it’s used to guilt, shame, and punish us. Don’t fall for it. As if enjoyment of something should lessen it’s significance, or usefulness. Your use is either social, or medicinal. There is no in-between, and there should be no guilt, ever. Just be as healthy as you can, for as long as you can, no matter what you have to take to get by in this life.

* **

Doug is also the author of “Personal Use by the northlondonhippy.”

You can also find Doug – the northlondonhippy on Twitter: @nthlondonhippy but only if you look really hard.

The Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll Collection

18 March, 2023"Personal Use", anti-natalism, Bonus Content, cannabis, cannabis evangelist, Climate Apocalypse, Climate Change, Climate Crisis, Consenting Online Adults, Countdown, decriminalisation, drug use, fiction, legalisation, MTV Redux, nostalgia, sci-fi, sex, Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll Collection, society, Springsteen, the hippyAnti-Natalism, Bonus Content, cannabis, climate crisis, Consenting Online Adults, Countdown, drugs, Fiction, MTV Redux, personal use, Sci-Fi, Sex, Sex Drugs RocK&Roll Collection, society, Springsteen, the hippythehippy

All Written by Doug – the northlondonhippy

The Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll Collection is a loosely connected series of the northlondonhippy’s most recent written pieces. It was all produced in a 5 week period.

Think of this new, inter-linked collection of material as the hippy’s second book. Effectively it is the sequel to his first book, Personal Use.

You can read all this brand new material for free right now.

December 2023 Update:

The hippy has added another piece to the collection, called “Now, Hear This”.

“Now, Hear This” was first published in November 2023, but the original idea was conceived back in March. It belongs here with the rest of the collection, and is now the introductory piece.

Now, Hear This

The hippy looks back at the roots of his lifetime love of modern music, through the songs he grew up with, and technology of the day that played it for him.

His journey began when he was 2 years old, and it started with the Beatles, and a couple of years later, Motown and more.

You’ll see, these memories turned out to be a lot more bittersweet than expected, as you read, and listen to “Now, Hear This”.

My Summer of Springsteen

During the Summer of 1982, when the hippy was still living on the Jersey Shore, he ran into Bruce Springsteen regularly.

Bruce wasn’t just a local hero back then, he was already a major, international rock god. He’d released his first five classic albums, toured the world repeatedly, and only played the largest venues available.

That summer, the hippy saw the Boss hanging out, and performing in small bars down the shore, nearly every weekend. Some nights, more than once. And Bruce saw the hippy, too.

These are his memories of “My Summer of Springsteen”.

MTV Redux

In this four part series, the hippy takes you back to a fairly amazing period of his young adult life.

In the mid 1980s, the hippy was loosely associated with MTV Music Television as an intern, and then occasionally employed by them as a freelance production assistant.

It’s also a tale of unrealised potential, and squandered opportunity, but it has taken the hippy a while to work all that out.

Part One – What? And Give Up Showbiz?
Part Two – Name Dropping
Part Three – Crappy New Year!
Part Four – The Death of the Dream

Time Aside – A Short Story

***Bonus Content***

Let’s pause the real life nostalgia briefly, and take a deep dive into some alternative personal history.

There’s no sex, drugs, or rock & roll in this one. “Time Aside” is a twisty tale of time travel, anti-natalism, and regret that’s rooted in the hippy’s real life back story.

It’s bonus content, so check it out! Or you could wait for the movie?

Tales from the Pre-Internet

Everyone thinks of dating apps, and websites when they think of meeting people online, but before the internet, in the 1980s, some folks were already playing around online. People were meeting up, and having naughty fun too. And the northlondonhippy was one of them.

The hippy refers to this period of time as the “Pre-Internet” in his recent series called MTV Redux. Thinking about that time was the inspiration for this series.

In the three part series, “Consenting Online Adults”the hippy overshares about many of his experiences.

And in Bonus Part Four, the hippy shares an additional tale from the Pre-Internet that deserves to stand on its own. This piece will leave you with one big question, but in Part Four – “I’ll Never Tell”.

Consenting Online Adults

Part One – The Prologue (1975-1983)

Part Two – Connecting (1980-1987)

Part Three – All Good Things (1985-1997)

Bonus – Part Four – I’ll Never Tell (1986)

Historic Hippy

Here’s a short selection from the hippy’s archive, if you want to know more…

I was a Background Artist on the BBC 10 O’Clock News – That’s who he was for the longest time

Piecing It All Together – This is why he is not that guy any more. TLDR: Epilepsy

Countdown to the End of the World – This is what the hippy would like to be doing next, if he had a choice.

Doing Some Good

While we’ve got your attention…

The Ceasefire Initiative – It’s just a small, simple idea to begin the process of finally putting an end to the pointless, useless “war on drugs”. We’re not seeking donations, just your support.

Follow us on Twitter: @ceasefire4good

#ceasefire4good #ceasefire4ever

I was a background artist on the BBC’s Ten O’clock News

4 March, 2020"Personal Use", cannabis, cannabis evangelist, drug use, High Hopes, legalisation, the hippyBBC News, High Hopes, personal use, the hippythehippy

***(Photo taken Sept 2012, on my first NBH nightshift)***

I have worked in the media for the past 35 years, the last 30 as a journalist. But the role I am most proud of, is my work from 2013 to 2019, as a background artist on the BBC’s Ten O’Clock News.

I didn’t start out at the BBC as a human prop in the background of the network news. From 2004, I worked there as a senior broadcast journalist too.

When the network news teams moved from Television Centre, into New Broadcasting House, in the spring of 2013, I got to make my on-air debut as a background artist. We don’t like to be called extras. Using that word only diminishes us.

There’s a good chance you might have spotted me during one of my many recurring appearances. I played “journalist rushing between desks”, a role I put my very heart and soul into, night after night.

I joined the BBC less than a year after I left Associated Press Television News. I worked at AP for around a decade, as a field producer, cameraman and news desk editor.

When I left AP, I had only one career goal, to work for BBC News. I eventually wangled an introduction via an old friend to the right person and started freelancing in the Spring of 2004. I got my first contract in the autumn of that year and was a member of staff until earlier this year, when I left their employ.

BBC News initially hired me as a World Duty Editor, working on the foreign desk, and I started out on the nightshift. Fifteen years later, I was still only working nights, and still working in effectively the same job. That’s half of my thirty year career as a journalist. Go me.

It wasn’t easy, joining the BBC later in life. There was so much jargon and BBC-speak, that I felt lost for the first 6 months I was there. And it is just so big. There was a lot to learn to do my new job. I was lucky that a couple of people, and one in particular, helped me get up to speed in those early days. Otherwise I would never have lasted long enough to become a background artist, when the time finally came to have that very small, yet vital on-air role.

**(That’s BBC News foreground artist/newsreader Fiona Bruce on-set, with background artists/journalists behind him)**

If you’ve watched BBC News on TV in the last 7 years, you no doubt noticed that behind the main set where Huw Edwards sits, is the actual BBC newsroom. That’s where I worked, that’s where I sat. If you think the CCTV surveillance is bad where you work, imagine having it broadcast to millions of people, night after night, in high definition.

When we first went live from NBH, everyone was extremely uptight about what those of us in the background might do. Journalists are notoriously unpredictable, just ask any politician.

We were discouraged from standing up and we were told not to wear bright colours. On one of the early broadcasts, someone had a hi-vis vest on, as they were preparing to depart and cycle home in the dark. It stood out, like hi-vis yellow is meant to do. But it was noticed by management, and hi-vis clothing was quickly banned from our shop floor. I think it still is to this very day. I hope that’s not a trade secret!

For the first couple of weeks, a squad of spotters patrolled the newsroom floor during BBC One network news broadcasts. They were in direct contact via radio headsets, with managers watching screens in the gallery. It was the spotter’s job was to quickly rush over on command from the gallery, to point out when people violated the rules of behaviour in the background. Mainly they just barked at us to “get down”. A lot. It was weird. I bet they had experience working as baby wranglers on a nappy advert before this gig.

As I mentioned, I only worked nights, and the Ten O’Clock news went out within the first 90 minutes of my arrival. In that time, I really would be rushing around, trying to speak to people who had been on all day, asking them questions, about what happened while I slept. Once they went home, that was it, I was on my own, so it was always good to get as much info as possible from them.

I had an actual, operational need to be in constant motion. So my character, “journalist rushing between desks” had motivation and a rich and complex backstory. I hope you agree it allowed my performance to be more multilayered, nuanced, and convincing.

The patrolling spotters didn’t like me, or care at all, why I had to move around during the news. I was yelled at more than once, to “get down”. It was about as much fun as it sounds.

When they told me to “get down” I had to constantly resist the huge urge to jump up on the desk and shout “gimme a beat!” and then do my best choreography. But then I would remember I was a short, fat, bald, middle-aged guy, with zero dancing skill. It was always a crushing blow.

What was worse, is for maybe the first 6 months of being in the new building, my colleagues were constantly telling me they spotted me on TV during the news.

It was always the same. My shift would finish around 7am, I would pass someone on the spiral stairs, or near the revolving doors, or outside on the piazza, and they would say, “I saw you on TV last night”. Or “you sure looked busy buzzing around behind Huw”. Or my personal favourite, “you looked like you were in a hurry last night.” Of course I bloody was! I was “journalist rushing between desks”!

As nice as it was to be complimented by my peers for my convincing performance, in truth I would have preferred to have never been spotted. I never asked to be a background artist. I was happy enough, just doing my real job as an overnight, duty news editor.

My specialty at BBC News, if I can call it that, was breaking news. When something unexpected or unforeseen occurred in the middle of the night, that was when I got to shine. Earthquakes, plane crashes, any disaster really. And high profile deaths too. Good news never happens in the dead of night. Only bad.

In my job as a duty news editor, I was responsible for organising the BBC’s initial response to big, breaking news and I’ve dealt with a huge range of stories, from the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami in Asia, to the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017 and many, many more. If you watched any TV news in the last 30 years, there’s pretty good chance you saw something I had a hand in covering. That’s not a boast, it’s just a fact.

And even though I’ve lost track and count of the number of major and minor events I have covered in the last 30 years, they have had an accumulated effect on me. How could they not? Professional detachment can only get you so far.

I still find it hard to let go of the enormity and horror of Grenfell, and I still have the occasional nightmare about it. And it still hurts many years later, to think about friends I’ve lost in the line of duty. There is a personal cost to my former line of work, and everyone ends up paying for it, eventually.

After a period of ill health last year, and my subsequent recovery, I decided to leave the BBC. It wasn’t an easy decision, but I know it is time for me to move on. I’m a full-time hippy now, something I have secretly wanted to be for a very long time.

I will cherish my time at BBC News, and as a journalist. It was great place to work, full of smart, dedicated, hard-working people. And even though new challenges and adventures hopefully await me, I know I will miss that very special time when I was a background artist on the BBC Ten O’Clock News.

I understand they have had to recast my role. It wouldn’t be the BBC News without someone portraying “journalist rushing between desks”. I wish my replacements nothing but success and all the best, as I do to all my former colleagues. I will miss you all.

Doug – the northlondonhippy

4th March 2020

After a 30 year career as a journalist, working for some of the largest news organisations in the world, including Associated Press and Reuters, and 15 years as a duty news editor for BBC News, Doug – the northlondonhippy is now a full time writer, hippy, and the United Kingdom’s very first cannabis evangelist. Hallelujah and amen to that!

Doug is also the author of “Personal Use by the northlondonhippy.” “Personal Use” chronicles Doug’s first 35 years of drug use, while calling for urgent drug law reform. It’s a cracking read, you will laugh, you will cry, and you can bet your ass that you will wish you were a hippy too!

“Personal Use” is available as a digital download on all platforms, including Amazon’s Kindle, Apple’s iBooks and Barnes & Noble’s Nook. The paperback is available from all online retailers and book shops everywhere.

You can also find Doug – the northlondonhippy on Twitter: @nthlondonhippy but only if you look really hard

Copyright: All words and photos are copyright the northlondonhippy…

…except the screen-grab of BBC News, which is used fairly without permission, but with affection.

I’m a full time hippy now

8 February, 2020"Personal Use", cannabis, cannabis evangelist, decriminalisation, drug use, High Hopes, legalisation, Politics, society, the hippycannabis, cannabis evangelist, news, the hippythehippy

It might not seem like it, just yet, but I am now a full time hippy. Yay! The countdown clock has ticked down and for the first time in a decade and a half, I am now unemployed.

I spent the last 30 years working as a journalist, mixed media really, but mostly TV news. The last 15 years was for the same company. It’s one you’ve heard of. but I’m not revealing it, yet. I’m not revealing much of anything, now. I’m still waiting for my final pay cheque. Once that’s banked, then I can pull back the curtain. I’m crazy, but I’m not stupid.

I will be publishing a piece in the next couple of weeks, which reveals my identity. Somewhat.

Spoiler alert: You will get my first name, and you will find out where I used to work. I’m still a nobody, my name won’t make a difference. I will still be the northlondonhippy, but I want to claim my real-life identity publicly, anyway. I have wanted to do this for a long time.

There will be a companion piece, which lays out my goals in my new role as the UK first self-proclaimed, cannabis evangelist. It’s not a crowded field, but I still want to make my mark. Hallelujah and amen to that!

Now that I have the freedom to operate a bit more openly, I want to spend the next few weeks getting some advice, I want to contact some people I admire who fight to reform our drug laws, plus some campaigners in other fields, and some media folk too. I want whatever I end up doing to have some impact.

When I wrote and published “Personal Use”, I had no expectations. It was a fun, secret side project. I used to joke if I sold a million copies, I would quit my job and be a full time hippy. I haven’t sold a million, not even close, yet here I am.

So while you wait for me to do whatever it is I am going to do, here’s a selection of 10 hippy highlights to keep you entertained:

REVEALED: The Shocking Link Between Tea and EVERYTHING BAD! – If you only read one thing on this page, read this one. It’s one of my most popular recent pieces.

The night Princess Diana died (Extract from “Personal Use”) – I didn’t kill her, I only felt like I did

Surviving the Climate Apocalypse – Great news, you can survive the end of the world, if you are rich enough

Politi-hippy 3 – The death of Polti-hippy – There is a part one, and a part two, but this is the best part.

A Question of Character – Or lack of it, in the case of our current Prime Minister.

Branding Jo Swinson’s Liberal Democrats – They made some mistakes, and paid for them on election day

Hating String Beans – They are now my favourite vegetable, but that’s not really what this is about

The Personal Risk of “Personal Use” – After my appearance on LBC, I wrote about being interviewed by James O’Brien

Why I Suck at Twitter – You should still follow me anyway

I Live in a Dry Country – I mean the UK, because weed is still pointlessly illegal

The northlondonhippy is an anonymous author, cannabis evangelist and recreational drug user, who has been writing about drugs and drug use for over 15 years. In real life, the hippy was a senior multimedia journalist until Feb 2020. With over 30 years experience of working in broadcast news, the hippy’s now left journalism to embark on a career as a full time hippy, writer and cannabis evangelist.

The hippy’s book, ‘Personal Use’ details the hippy’s first 35 years of recreational drug taking, while calling for urgent drug law reform. It’s a cracking read, you will laugh, you will cry and you can bet your ass that you will wish you were a hippy too!

The hippy says his next book, “High Hopes” will be published in 2020. The hippy says a lot of things.

You can also find the northlondonhippy on Twitter: @nthlondonhippy but only if you look really hard.

Hating String Beans

27 August, 2019"Personal Use", cannabis, decriminalisation, legalisation, societycannabis, legalisationthehippy

String Beans Photo by Sonja Langford on Unsplash

The first time I ever saw a string bean, I was 13 years old. I was dining with my family in a small, local restaurant, when a plate containing string beans arrived at our table.

When I say string beans, I mean long, thin, immature runner beans, you may call them something else, fine beans, green beans, you might even call them haricot vert. I’d never seen them before, because my father absolutely detested them and they were banned from my childhood home.

I don’t think I can overstate just how much my father hated string beans. He hated them with the sort of passion usually reserved for ex-wives, rival sports teams and politicians. He despised them, hard.

So when his steak arrived at the table and he gruffly ordered the server to return it to the kitchen to have the ‘green vegetable’ scraped from his plate, I didn’t understand, because I didn’t know what string beans even looked like. It wasn’t until my mother explained that I realised it was the aforementioned and disgustingly offensive, string beans. My parents had a good laugh at my ignorance, even though they were the direct cause of it.

I tried to understand why my father, a grown man, could find a vegetable so repulsive. He eventually explained that when he was in the army, he was forced to eat them on a regular basis. A tinned, tasteless, mushy version of them was slapped onto his mess tray, day after day after day. He said he made a promise to himself, that once he was out of the military, he would never, ever eat or even look at another string bean for the rest of his life.

Because of my father’s hatred of the dreaded string bean, that was my only encounter with them, that fleeting glance, before I reached adulthood. I hated string beans by proxy. My dad would eat almost anything, he ate pickled pigs knuckles, for God’s sake! If he didn’t like string beans, they must be foul and disgusting. It was the only sensible conclusion and I accepted it as gospel and never questioned it. It was the gospel of vegetables according to my sainted father.

Flash forward to years later, and I am a guest at a friend’s home for Sunday lunch. We sit down for the meal, and guess what was on my plate? That’s right, the evil green beans, which I hated only by reputation.

As an adult, I had a more open mind, and I had worked out that my parents weren’t always right, so I decided in that instant, to taste the string beans.

I loved them. They were crisp, flavourful and delicious. I took another forkful and savoured them. These are good, I thought. These are really good. And I spent my whole life until that point, avoiding them, because of my father’s insane dislike of string beans. String beans are now one of my favourite vegetables, lightly steamed with a little butter, salt and pepper. Yum!

There’s another vegetable with a bad reputation that is also undeserved: The Devil’s Lettuce. How’s that for a segue? This was always really about cannabis. Everything for me is always about cannabis.

Chances are, if you are anti-cannabis, you are hating it by proxy. You have learned to hate cannabis by channelling the hatred of others and have no first hand experience of it yourself. Lucky guess?

More likely, you have been force fed anti-cannabis propaganda your entire life. But unless you’ve experienced it for yourself, tried it yourself, you won’t really know the truth.

Perhaps I am wrong and someone you respect, someone with authority on the subject, has told you the truth, that cannabis is extremely beneficial for a variety of reasons. And if that is not true, let it be true from this point onwards. You just need to respect my authority on the subject, because I have been a daily cannabis consumer for nearly 40 years, a journalist for 30 years and I am the author of the book, “Personal Use”. This is exactly what I am telling you, that cannabis is good.

You have been lied to repeatedly, for your entire life, about cannabis. We all have, and the lies continue to dominate any discussion about weed. The only difference, is now it is easier to call out these lies, because some more sensible governments have taken steps to change their laws. We know with certainty that cannabis decriminalisation and legalisation improve things, and more importantly, doesn’t make anything else worse. It’s a win-win. Yes, yes.

I didn’t know how good string beans were until I tried them for myself. It seems obvious on the surface, but I was indoctrinated from an early age to hate the little green wonders.

We’ve all been indoctrinated to hate cannabis, to fear it, to expect the worst of it, and none of it is true. Cannabis is analogous to coffee, a mild drug that can be consumed safely on a regular basis. That said, you can die from caffeine poisoning, but you would need to consume an amount equivalent to your body weight in weed to do the same. And even then, it would probably be easier to just drop it upon your head from a great height to kill you.

Cannabis is safer than aspirin. I say that a lot, but for only one reason. It’s true. Yet no one complains if you self administer an aspirin, but self administer some cannabis…Oh wait, you can’t, because it is not legal for very much right now.

One of the many mistakes made in pursuing medical cannabis in the UK, was insisting it be on prescription. I prefer the California model, of therapeutic use with a doctor’s recommendation. Or without a doctor’s recommendation, I’m easy. You wouldn’t need a doctor to recommend taking aspirin, would you? So why would you need one for self-administering cannabis?

Some campaigners have tried desperately to exaggerate the harm cannabis can cause, trying to offer legal, medicinal cannabis as the solution. The only harm actually caused, has been by this mendacious stance and it has set the legalisation movement back.

Cannabis is cannabis, medical cannabis and recreational cannabis, are both the same cannabis. And if you grow your own, at home, that is cannabis too.

You will get no argument from me regarding the quality of some black market cannabis vs cannabis cultivated in a legal environment. I would much prefer something that has been safely grown, tested and certified as being good. I’d also be willing to pay tax on it. But please don’t lie and try to tell us that there is a genetic difference between the two.

Weed is weed, there’s good quality weed and there is shitty weed. Not all legal weed is good quality, and not all black market cannabis is shitty…but you’re more likely to get excellent weed in a legal environment and more likely to get crappy weed on the black market. It’s just simple economics and good old capitalism.

For most people, legal weed in the UK wouldn’t make much difference. The estimated 5 million people who consume cannabis regularly, would continue to do so, only without fear of arrest. And higher quality products would be available to adults. The rest of the people, those who don’t consume cannabis, are unlikely to start or notice much of a difference in their lives.

Certainly, that won’t be universal, some people will experiment, and of those who do, some may enjoy it or find it beneficial to their health and continue to consume it, but the number won’t rise significantly. How do I know that? I know it because that is what has happened in places where it has already been legalised.

And this will blow your minds, the demographic that comes around to legal cannabis the most, is older folks, in my age group, 40s, 50s and 60s. (My age is somewhere in the middle of that, so I am ahead of the curve.)

We already have a large cannabis market in the UK, but it is untaxed and unregulated. There is an existing customer base as well, who would be thrilled to see this black market legitimised and legalised. This isn’t about creating a new market, it is about improving our existing one and bringing it into the light. We have nothing to fear from this conversion and everything to gain.

I will let you in on a secret. I already smoke good weed, and enjoy quality edibles, some even home made. But I’m not doing this just for me. I’m doing this for you. You deserve to know how good cannabis is, you deserve to discover for yourself, how beneficial it can be.

Let me put it another way, I am a dual national. I don’t make much of it, but I am, British and American. I could sell up, move to Colorado, or California, tomorrow, if all I wanted was to smoke cannabis legally.

I want more than to just consume cannabis legally. I want the country I’ve lived in for more than half my life, to benefit from a legal, regulated cannabis market. London is my home, I want to give something back to the city and nation that has given me so much. I could easily jump ship, and save myself, but I don’t want to do that. I want to see the laws changed here, for the good of everyone. That’s all I’ve ever wanted, but I am planning on trying a whole lot harder in the near future. This is my calling, like a vocation, just a really cool one. I want to make it my life.

Don’t let cannabis be your string beans. Don’t hate it because others hate it. If you want to find out for yourself what the fuss is all about, go for it. If you don’t like it after trying it, that’s cool. But if you do like it, that’s even cooler. And if you don’t want to try it, that’s cool too. All I ask is that you please kindly be supportive of the millions of us who do dig it. And please educate yourselves, learn how to spot the lies. I promise to do what I can to help with that.

The northlondonhippy is an anonymous author, online cannabis activist and recreational drug user, who has been writing about drugs and drug use for over 15 years. In real life, the hippy is a senior multimedia journalist with over 30 years experience of working in news.

The hippy’s book, ‘Personal Use’ details the hippy’s first 35 years of recreational drug taking, while calling for urgent drug law reform. It’s a cracking read, you will laugh, you will cry and you can bet your ass that you will wish you were a hippy too!

You can also find the northlondonhippy on Twitter: @nthlondonhippy

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